The African Well Fund raised $7,872.67 in the 18th Annual Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser. Over the past seventeen campaigns, AWF has raised over $1,200,000 to fund clean water and sanitation projects in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
This year’s campaign is a shared gift, dedicated to both Bono and founding AWF board member Laura Page, who passed away following a long illness at the end of May.
Board member Lara Wineman shares, “When the African Well Fund was just a “big idea,” we were a small group of women with a few things in common – our love for Bono and U2, and our desire to make the world a better place. We didn’t know much back then about how we’d make a positive impact, other than that a clean water source in an African village could change the lives of hundreds of people. We quickly raised the $1,000 we understood a well would cost. From that first fundraiser, we were hooked and this “big idea” seemed obtainable.
To make this dream possible we had somehow been blessed with a group of women whose skills and experience each contributed perfectly to the whole, from design to management to organizing. Laura had so many of the skills we needed to turn our “big idea” into reality, including her background in finance and nonprofits, and her web programming skills. Having a lawyer husband was also invaluable. With all this at her disposal, Laura was able to guide AWF to obtaining 501(c)3 status and becoming an official nonprofit in 2003. She also built our first website, donated a server to house it on, and dedicated herself to the upkeep and dozens of iterations of the site as AWF grew.
Without Laura’s perseverance, guidance and wisdom AWF would not be where it is today — an organization that’s raised over $1 million to fund the construction of clean water and sanitation projects in 15 sub-Saharan African nations that are benefiting over 350,000 people.”
Our project for this fundraiser saw the continuation of AWF’s new partnership with The Outer Loop Theater Experience. The Outer Loop, founded by Michael Herman and Rachael Yoder, has recently completed the construction of a maternity clinic in Mloka,Tanzania, and last year’s Build a Well campaign provided a water source for the clinic. This year, African Well Fund is seeking to fund the construction of a waterpoint for the surrounding villages so that they might have access to clean water at every stage of life. Once constructed, the waterpoint will serve up to 6,000 people.
AWF is extremely grateful to all who took the time to donate, tweet, and share with their friends.